Sorry Chiri
I have to disagree on this one. I think there are better alternatives. It is ust too expensive given the current needs and capacity of DR. They biggest issue here is that there is need for the creation of a Comprehensive Plan. DR never really had one. And I am talking about a real plan one that really incorporates the need for population growth, needs for schools, etc. This is about HAVING A VISION of what the major cities of DR should look like in 5, 10, 15, 20 ,30, 40 , 50 years.
Here is what a friend of mine who is a transportation planner and I have been discussing:
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CURITIBA, BRAZIL
Three decades of thoughtful city planning
The city of Curitiba provides the world with a model in how to integrate
sustainable transport considerations into business development, road
infrastructure development, and local community development.
Curitiba first outlined its Master Plan in 1965, with the main goals of
limiting central area growth and encouraging commercial and service sector
growth along two structural north-south transport arteries, radiating out
from the city center. The Master Plan also aimed to provide economic
support for urban development through the establishment of industrial zones
and to encourage local community self-sufficiency by providing all city
districts with adequate education, health care, recreation, and park areas.
The plan called for the integration of traffic management, transportation,
and land-use planning to achieve its goals, and maintained flexibility in
its regulations to allow for different future development scenarios.
The Master Plan established the guiding principle that mobility and land
use can not be disassociated with each other if the city's future design is
to succeed. In order to fulfill the goals of the Master Plan in providing
access for all citizens, the main transport arteries were modified over
time to give public transport the highest priority.
Each of the five arteries contains one two-way lane devoted exclusively to
express buses. This inner lane is flanked on either side by 1) a local
access lane for cars and 2) a high-capacity one-way route for use by both
cars and buses. Separating traffic types and establishing exclusive bus
lanes on the city's predominant arteries helped to mold two defining
characteristics of the city's transport system: a safe, reliable, and
efficient bus service operating without the hazards and delays inherent to
mixed-traffic bus service; and densification of development along the bus
routes.
About 1,100 buses make 12,500 trips per day, serving 1.3 million
passengers. Five different types of buses operate in Curitiba:
Express buses operate exclusively on the arteries' dedicated busways.
"Rapid" buses operate on both the arteries and on other main streets
throughout the city, and their routes are changed to respond to demand.
These buses stop at tube-shaped stations designed for protection from the
weather and for quick bus entry and exit. They also accommodate the
handicapped.
A new "bi-articulated" bus, introduced in December, 1992, is a form of
rapid bus operating on the outside high-capacity lanes. Bi-articulated
buses - the largest in the world - are actually three buses attached by two
articulations, and are capable of carrying 270 passengers.
"Inter-district" buses bring passengers between the city's sectors lying
between the arteries, and thus provide a crucial link between the routes of
the express and bi-articulated buses.
Finally, "feeder" buses mix with traffic on all other city streets and
bring passengers to transfer stations called "District Terminals," around
which local urban development and commercial activity has flourished.
Curitiba's buses are privately-owned by ten companies, managed by a
quasi-public company. With this public-private collaboration, public sector
concerns (e.g. safety, accessibility, and efficiency) are combined private
sector goals (e.g. low maintenance and operating costs). The bus companies
receive no subsidies; instead all mass transit money collected goes to a
fund and companies are paid on a distance travelled basis.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Chirimoya
Seeing as Nals has gone AWOL, I have to say it instead:
"you're just a bunch of pessimists!"
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